LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 407

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Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Task Force
Distance v. Residential Education
• Res. 5-01B: “[The SMP curriculum] will be based on the following
principles:... 4. A combination of distance education and residential
components (likely through short-term seminars and the option to take
courses within the residential curriculum)... the past years have provided the church, in general, and the seminaries, in particular, with
substantial experimentation and experience with distance education
models, including the evaluation of both the advantages and disadvantages... the Synod is presented with an opportunity to build on
such experience and to coordinate and consolidate programs and curriculum into a more cohesive and comprehensive curriculum design
that engages the best practices of educational design and pedagogy,
including much of the current course materials already proven and in
use... [The SMP proposal seeks to] utilize the advances in educational
technology that allow for responsible pastoral education and formation through distance-education models” (pp. 134, 136).
• Committee 5: “[The SMP program offers] in-service preparation, contextual and distance education, ordination to those called for Word
and Sacrament ministry in congregations, and a more comprehensive
approach that encompasses diverse roots... the next level of doing distance education [noting that ATS accreditation standards] requires a
residential component.”

Alternate Routes
• Res. 5-01B: “A variety of programs and routes leading to pastoral
service have arisen at both district and seminary levels... The DELTO
Oversight Committee, after concluding its original assignment, was
given the further assignment by the President of the Synod to ‘ study
the various routes leading to ordination currently available, to study
which routes leading to ordination would be most helpful to the
Synod in producing a sufficient number of able and effective pastors
to provide leadership to Synod’s congregation in fulfilling the Great
Commission... [T]he Synod would benefit from a more coherent and
comprehensive approach to pastoral education and certification for
ministry in specialized and specific contexts... [T]he past years have
provided the church, in general, and the seminaries, in particular, with
substantial experimentation and experience with distance education
models... [T]he Synod is presented with an opportunity to build on
such experience and to coordinate and consolidate programs and curriculum into a more cohesive and comprehensive curriculum design
that engages the best practices of education design and pedagogy...
[The Synod seeks to] develop a more coherent and comprehensive model for pastoral education by which various routes leading
to certification, call, and ordination are coordinated and potentially
interrelated...” (pp. 136–137)
• Committee 5: “Unlike other programs that have been designated specifically for ethnic membership, we are not setting any kind of lower
standard for ethnic ministry. We are setting the same standard for
everybody.”

Curriculum
• Res. 5-01B: “The student will take a core curriculum so as to acquire a
foundational competency in Lutheran theology. This foundational core
will be both contextualized and specialized within and for a specific
ministry... The preordination curriculum will equip the student in such
a way that the church has confidence that the student will preach the
Gospel in its truth and purity and conduct his ministry in conformity
with Lutheran doctrine and practice. In order to do this, the preordination curriculum will address such basic competencies as Catechism,
interpretation of Scripture, God and Christ and the work of Christ, the
Sacraments, introduction to the Book of Concord, the conduct of worship, and preaching. The post-ordination curriculum will address these
topics in greater depth and detail and will include such topics as OT
content and theology, NT content and theology, gifts of Christ, body
of Christ, Church history and the history of Lutheranism, Christian
education, pastoral theology, and theology of missions... [The student] will participate in courses and seminars comparable to those
offered to residential seminary students... Any way of providing for

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pastoral ministry must be faithful to our Lutheran Confessions, faithful
to our historic commitment to a well- educated and well-formed ministerium... responsible theological education that provides the church
with well-educated pastors, who as missional leaders are faithful to
Lutheran theology and practice;...” (pp. 134, 135, 136)
Committee 5: “[Students’ training] will lead to basic pastoral competencies within a couple of years, enabling the candidate to take
ordination vows with integrity, having been examined and certified by
the faculty, and continuing to build on this foundational education...
Unlike other programs that have been designated specifically for ethnic membership, we are not setting any kind of lower standard... We
are setting the same standard for everybody.”

Continuing Education
• Res. 5-01B: “The church should provide the opportunity for a pastor who has been certified and ordained to serve in a specific kind of
ministry subsequently to be prepared to serve the church more broadly
through a combination of further academic preparation, accumulated
pastoral experience, and examination... The specific curriculum will
be determined and developed by the seminary faculties... based on the
following principles:... 5. The potential applicability of coursework for
academic credit towards an M.Div... Students who have completed
the Specific Ministry Pastor Program may decide to remain in their
rostered status as ‘specific ministry pastor’ for the remainder of their
ministry, or they may choose to pursue a growth path that leads to
change in roster status to ‘general ministry pastor.’ It is envisioned that
most students will pursue the second path, either through an M.Div.
route or nondegree certification... [The Synod seeks to] develop a more
coherent and comprehensive model for pastoral education by which
various routes leading to certification, call, and ordination are coordinated and potentially interrelated, so that, for example, a student in a
nonresidential certificate route might be able to engage also in a residential degree program.” (pp. 134, 135, 136–137)

Licensed Lay Deacons
• Res. 5-01B: “Lutherans affirm that there is only one Office of the Holy
Ministry, established by God for the public conduct of the ministry
of Word and Sacrament... All those who serve Christ and the church
in the Office of the Holy Ministry exercise de iure divino (by divine
authority) the power to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, administer
the Sacraments, and exercise church discipline. There is no distinction within the one office with respect to this power and authority... All
those who regularly and publicly perform the functions of the Office
of the Holy Ministry should do so as those called to and placed into
that office because ‘[i]t is taught among us that nobody should publicly
teacher or preach or administer the sacraments in the church without
a regular call’ (AC XIV);... [The Synod seeks to] respect our commitment to the doctrine of church and ministry, especially in light of AC
XIV;...” (pp. 133, 136)
• Res. 5-02: “1989 Res. 3-05B, ‘To Adopt Recommendations of Lay
Worker Study Committee Report as Amended,’ which authorized lay
men to serve in Word and Sacrament ministry in certain circumstances
as licensed lay deacons, was never intended to serve as an alternate
route into the pastoral office... Resolved, That the Board for Pastoral
Education and the Council of Presidents be requested to study the situations currently served by licensed lay deacons to determine whether
there continues to be a genuine need for this program within the Synod
and to present a report with recommendations to the 2010 convention
of the Synod.” (p. 138)
• Committee 5: “[The SMP program is] not meant to deal with this
issue... [The SMP program and the licensed deacon program] are
apples and oranges... SMP is about training pastors, not about the
diaconate.”

B. Results of Task Force Research of White Paper
As noted above, the task force relied for much of its objective information on the March 15, 2012 White Paper prepared and
2013 Convention Workbook